1. That God forbid, that made me first your slave,

2. I should in thought control your times of pleasure,

3. Or at your hand the account of hours to crave,

4. Being your vassal, bound to stay your leisure.

5. O, let me suffer (being at your beck)

6. The imprison'd absence of your liberty,

7. And patience, tame to sufferance bide each check,

8. Without accusing you of injury.

9. Be where you list, your charter is so strong,

10. That you yourself may privilege your time

11. To what you will, to you it doth belong,

12. Yourself to pardon of self-doing crime.

13. I am to wait, though waiting so be hell,

14. Not blame your pleasure be it ill or well.

Self Doing Crime

Dedication: To Elizabeth

Explaining to Elizabeth that it is not he who can judge her but that she must judge herself for the crime she has committed against herself. That only she can pardon herself with whatever choice she must make regarding Henry.

1^st Quatrain: (1-4)

Explaining of his slavery to her and his duty to provide for her pleasure both physical and mental (through his plays no doubt)

2^nd Quatrain: (5-8)

Pleading that it be him to suffer and be imprisoned without her liberty (he has already of course been imprisoned and enjoyed her "liberty")

3rd Quatrain: (9-12)

Telling Elizabeth such is her is power and control of her own time that she is still capable of reversing her decision (pardoning her self-doing crime)

couplet (13-14),

Finally telling her again he is but subject to her desire and pleasure and will duly wait on her decision

Commentary:

Oxford expressing his duty to rely on Elizabeth to make her decision regarding Henry however it appears to me that there may also be implied hints that his duty might be to act regardless of Elizabeth’s expressed wishes, though the poems explicit message is his duty and honor require him to do so. It seems surprising to me that Oxford’s realization on the need for submission has taken so long. I occurs to me that it is an illustration of how much Oxford viewed himself as being cheated and robbed of his status and ability to decide the fate of his son.

The self-doing crime of line 12 is a very important reference that again connects this poem to the many others that speak of this crime such as that of 120 line 8 and others already discussed and the robbery of 40 to come.

The ever handy Cliff Notes points out that the poet’s annoyance with the subject of the poem is expressed ambiguously. I do not find the thoughts expressed as either very ambiguous or what I might otherwise characterize as mere annoyance. I personally find it to be an expression of dissatisfaction and impatience to someone of power who is not likely to take well to any characterization of their behavior or disposition as anything other then their right. And I might add one who has probably already displayed a great deal of patience with early correspondence regarding the evil committed by them. In addition I hope that the continuity of the mention of the crime committed ties in well with those same “Dark Lady” sonnets to which I refer. In addition that this crime is described as “self-doing” should be seen as corroborating as well of this same notion and this theory in particular.

Vendler comments that the bitter intonation in Q1 would not be “employable by any genuine slave”, though she goes on to elaborate on all the aspects that represent the sovereign in the relationship.She does not appear to mention the self doing crime.